Centennial History of Columbus and Franklin County. William Alexander Taylor
were two methods of travel at that day—by roadway, on foot, horseback or vehicular appliance, or by boat on river and creek. There was but one way to equalize travel—to place the capital in the practical geographical center of the state, not in the theoretical center of population, thus affording equal facilities to all groups of settlers, whether large or small, and, more important than all, to encourage settlements in every section of the state.
The Moving Considerations.
They were moved to these considerations by the travel and transportation question as it then presented itself. If the capital should become a great metropolis, its proper place, in their lights, was in the center of the state, where it would offer equal advantages to all. If it was of but limited growth, it was still the capital and great political center, and they were disinclined to afford three-fourths of the facilities to reach the capital to one-fourth of the population and but one-fourth of the facilities to the remaining three-fourths.
This was the irresistible and common sense reasoning and logic of our ancestors, in the absence of modern methods of travel, traffic and transportation. They may have built in the dark, but they could not have built their capital more appropriately or laid the foundation of their state mom grandly.
The following commissioners were selected to locate a suitable site for a state capital by the legislative session of 1808-1809: General James Findlay, of Hamilton county; Joseph Darlington, Adams; William McFarland, Ross; and later the names of Wyllys Silliman, of Washington, and General Rezin Beall, of Wayne, were added to the commission by joint resolution.
Rival Propositions Submitted.
The commission organized and asked real-estate proprietors to submit propositions looking to the location of the future city. In 1811-12 the commission submitted their report, in which was recited the following pecuniary or other valuable inducements to locate the capital at one of nine different points:
1. Messrs. John Kerr, Alex. McLaughlin, James Johnston and Lyne Starling, of Columbus, then known as the High Bank opposite Franklinton, who offered to donate all the grounds necessary for the public buildings and erect all the necessary buildings thereon, donate one thousand acres of ground and four thousand dollars in money.
2. Moses Byxbe and Henry Baldwin, of Delaware, offered to donate the ground and erect all necessary buildings and lay off four thousand acres in town lots, the proceeds of one-half, taken alternately, to inure to the state treasury.
3. John and Peter Sells offered to donate four hundred acres on the Scioto, four miles west of Worthington, and erect suitable buildings.
4. James Kilbourne, of Worthington, offered to donate all the necessary grounds and erect such buildings as might be required.
5. Walter Dun, for himself, and John Graham offered to donate four hundred acres and erect buildings near the Scioto, in Franklin county, northwest of Franklinton.
6. Thomas Backus offered to donate one thousand acres between the Sells' site and Franklinton.
7. James Galloway offered to donate two hundred acres on the Big Darby near the line of Franklin and Madison counties.
8. Henry Neville offered to donate one hundred and fifty acres of the High Bank on the Pickaway Plains.
9. Circleville offered a subscription of five thousand nine hundred and ninety-five dollars.
The commissioners recommended the Delaware offer and site, but the legislature eventually fixed on Columbus as the permanent seat of government and removed it temporarily from Zanesville to Chillicothe until the new capitol buildings were erected. The following representatives entered a protest on the Journal against the act, as unnecessary and uncalled for, and because the Delaware proposition was refused, if any were to be accepted, viz: Messrs.
Thomas G. Jones, Frame, Foulks, Crumbacker, Mitchell, Sharp, Jackson, Harm an, Huntington, McCune, Bryson and Smith.
The legislature almost unanimously ignored the recommendation of the commission in favor of Delaware and by a similar vote decided to accept proposition No. 1 as above, and in due course of time legislation was enacted and the permanent capital of the state was fixed and Columbus appeared on the map.
Full Text of Winning Proposition.
The following is a copy of the original proposals of the proprietors of Columbus: To the Honorable the Legislature of the State of Ohio: We, the subscribers, do offer the following as our proposals, provided the legislature at their present session shall fix and establish the permanent seat of government on the bank of the Scioto river, nearly opposite Franklinton, on half sections number twenty-five and twenty-six and part of half sections number ten and eleven, all in township five, range twenty-two of the Refugee Lands, and commence their sessions there on the first Monday of December, 1817:
1st. To lay out a town on the lands aforesaid, on or before the first of July next, agreeably to the plan presented by us to the legislature.
2nd To convey to the state by general warranty deed, in fee simple, such square of said town, of the contents of ten acres or near it, for the public buildings, and such lot of ten acres, for the penitentiary and dependencies, as a director, or such person or persons as the legislature shall appoint, may direct.
3rd. To erect and complete a state house, offices and penitentiary, and such other buildings as shall be directed by the legislature to be built, of stone and brick, or of either, the work to be done in a workmanlike manner, and of such size and dimensions as the legislature shall think fit; the penitentiary and dependencies to be completed on or before first of January, 1815, and the state house and offices on or before the first Monday of December, 1817.
When the buildings shall be completed the legislature and us, reciprocally, shall appoint workmen to examine and value the whole buildings, which valuation shall be binding; and if it does not amount to fifty thousand dollars, we shall make up such deficiency in such further buildings as shall be directed by law; but if it exceeds the sum of fifty thousand dollars, the legislature will by law remunerate us in such way as they may think just and equitable.
The legislature may, by themselves or agent, alter the width of the streets and alleys of said town, previous to its being laid out by us, if they "may think proper to do so.
Lyne Starling (Seal.)
John Kerr (Seal.)
Alex. McLaughlin (Seal.)
James Johnston (Seal.)
Attest, Wilson Elliot, Isaac Hazlett.
The above was accompanied by their bond for the faithful performance of their undertaking.
When Matters Looked Dubious.
Although it was the avowed object of the legislature to establish a permanent seat of government, yet when the time came to act conclusively on the subject, there was a misgiving among them, and it became pretty manifest that the bill for the acceptance of the foregoing proposals would not pass without a limitation clause in it, and it being now just at the close of the session, rather than to have it defeated or to lie over, the proprietors made their second proposition, of which the following is a copy: To the Honorable the Legislature of Ohio: We, the subscribers, do agree to comply with the terms of our bond now in possession of the senate of the state aforesaid, in case they will fix the seat of government of this state on the lands designated in our proposals, on the east bank of the Scioto river, nearly opposite to Franklinton, and commence their sessions there at or before the first Monday of December, 1817, and continue the same in the town to be laid off by us until the year 1840. These conditional proposals are offered for the acceptance of the legislature of Ohio, provided they may be considered more eligible than those previously put in.
John Kerr (Seal.)
James Johnston (Seal.)
A. McLaughlin (Seal.)
Lyne Starling (Seal.)
Attest, William Elliott, February 11th, 1812.
This proposition seemed